The Age of Anti-heroes and A Point of Reference

"But this is the Age, among other things, of the Anti-hero. This is the Age of Do-it-yourself; Do-it-yourself oil paintings: Just Follow the Numbers; Do-it-yourself Home Organ Lessons; Do-it-yourself Instant Culture.
But I can't do it myself. I need a hero. Sometimes I have pretty shoddy ones, as I have chosen faulty mirrors in which to see myself. But a hero I must have. A hero shows me what fallible man, despite and even with his faults, can do: I can do anything: not as much of a paradox as it might seem.
In looking towards a hero, we are less restricted and curtailed in our own lives. A hero provides us with a point of reference." -Madeleine L'Engle. A Circle of Quiet, p. 180

In light of the Olympics going on at the moment, this quote stuck out to me. I sat in Prince Street Cafe, my littlest sister sitting across from me reading The Hard Winter, pondering the idea of having a hero and trying to figure out who mine was. Sure, Team USA is inspiring but are they my heroes?
I don't think so.
There are many people I admire and look up to, but I don't know if, according to L'Engle's definition, they qualifies as my "hero".
I agree with L'Engle in all of these. I'm not a do it yourselfer. I do need others to do things that I cannot do. I like the idea of a hero being a "fallible man doing, despite his faults, things I cannot". However, I don't think I have that "one person" that I look up to, that I strive to be like, that I idolize.

There it is. I think in my head, I view having a hero the same as an idol. There are many people in my life that can do things that I cannot; That are fallible, and yet I see the Grace of God in their life and the things they can do as a blessing in this way. I feel this paradox and it's shaping me into the person that I'm becoming. So Yes, I don't have one "hero", I have many people in my life that I admire, thus shaping me into...me. 
So thank you Dad, Mom, Mrs. Jones, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Madeleine L'Engle, C.S.Lewis, Audrey Hepburn, Joy, Danika, Susannah, Kinfolk, My FamilyFriendsForever(you know who you are), Billy Collins, Burberry, New York, Wheatland.. for shaping me into the person that I am becoming and for being my point of reference.

Inspiration is Key #2

I've made another list of things that I'm inspired by. Here it is:

#1- Madeleine L'Engle

#2- Hebrews 7:24-25

#3- The Dictionary

#4- This Song

#5- Kate Middleton

#6- Olly Murs

#7- The Olympics

#8- Lauren Conrad

#9- My New Camera(!)

#10- The Fact That I have 19 Days Until I Move To New York City. (AH!)

Fashion: art or artless?

This past weekend I spent time in New York City. My bestie is up in Brooklyn this week and last week dancing at a Mark Morris summer intensive. I decided that I would kill multiple birds with one stone. 1) see the bestie dance in a demonstration of what she learned last week. 2) hangout with my cousin who lives in the upper east side. 3) navigate nyc and the subway system by myself before I move there in 65 days (not that I'm counting or anything...). 4) just hangout in one of my favorite cities. 
SO. I did all of these things. and it was amazing. and my bestie was amazing dancing. and hanging out with my cousin was amazing. and hanging out in nyc with three of my girl friends was amazing. I had NO desire to come home to LancLanc At All. 

On saturday, three of my girl friends, my cousin, and I spent the morning at the MET. we saw a special show called Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations. It was a fascinating show, exploring the similarities of two different fashion designers from two different eras, Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada. I was struck, while moseying my way through the exhibit, how different my idea of fashion is, and what Schiaparelli and Prada's view of fashion is. It's safe to say that we all differ completely. 
Schiaparelli viewed fashion as art. She said that if she hadn't become a designer she would have been a sculptor. Prada, on the other hand, did not view fashion as art. She seemed to only do it as a rebellion to anyone and everyone. However, I was confused. If she did not view fashion as art, as she had stated, then she had a strange way of expressing that. Her clothing is unwearable for the average person. It Is Art. There's no question. It's elaborate and unflattering for most people. And thus, I realized my opinion on fashion.

Fashion should be beautiful.


Fashion should be flattering to the wearer.


Fashion should be graceful.


Fashion should be classy. (However that doesn't mean it can't be fun and take risks)


Fashion should be art, but art that the wearer wears, not that wears the wearer.


I didn't realize how strongly I felt these things, until observing Schiaparelli and Prada's exhibit at the MET.

So that's what I've been thinking about recently. {all photos either found on tumblr, the met website or my instagram}

Tell me your thoughts. CA

inspiration is key

I've made a list. A list of what I'm inspired by Right.Now.

Here it is:

#1- Psalm 46:10

#2- John and Idelette Calvin

#3- New York City

#4- Emma Stone

#5- Madeleine L'Engle

#6- C.S. Lewis

#7- my Fred Astaire Pandora Station

#8- My Blog: An Ode To Glitter

#9- Church History.. History in general

#10- This album

What inspires you right now? Tell the world below.

Inspiration of the Day

Mondays, Museums, and Fashion

It's raining. Rain makes sitting in cafes so much cozier. which is a hard thing to do since cafes are pretty cozy to begin with.

My mom sent me this poem this morning. I thought I would share it with you.

On Mondays by Marilyn Donnelly On Mondays when the museums are closed and a handful of guards look the other way or read their newspapers all of the figures step out of golden frames to stroll the quiet halls or visit among old friends. Picasso's twisted ladies rearrange themselves to trade secrets with the languid odalisques of Matisse while sturdy Rembrandt men shake the dust from their velvet tams and talk shop. Voluptuous Renoir women take their rosy children by the hand to the water fountains where they gossip while eating Cezanne's luscious red apples. Even Van Gogh in his tattered yellow straw hat seems almost happy on Mondays when the museums are closed.

It ^^ makes me think of Philly and the art museums and of new york. Which makes me excited. Cuz I'm moving there in t-minus 103ish days. I'm excited. can you tell?

I've been thinking a lot about what my options might be for jobs after college, ie. what I like, what I don't like, where do I see my self thriving, what are my strengths,
For some reason I keep coming back to the fashion world. Sure, I don't design, I'm not artistic like that, but I love writing, I love fashion, I love photography. All these things add to up some kind of magazine job. So is that where I'll be in four years? Who knows... (besides God..) So I'll just spend the next couple months..years.. researching. Besides, the fashion world needs more lights in it anyway.

oh I got to talk to two of my besties today, one stopped by and the other we chatted on the phone. What a nice break from that madness that is my school.

speaking of madness... time to return to it.
Happy monday.

Re-Humanizing. And Paused.

So yesterday at church my pastor was talking about those pauses we feel before a change God is bringing. Our sermon series right now is focusing on the appearances Christ made after his resurrection. It's a wonderful series, just seeing God show himself to his followers who were so broken. Anyway, yesterday's sermon was based on John 21: 1-14, when Jesus appeared to the disciples on the Sea of Galilee. Anyway, I was just thinking this morning about what my pastor said about the pauses.
I feel paused. Paused, yet still moving. I am in the same place I have been in for the last year, but I feel that quiver of something new coming. I'm ridiculously busy, but I feel paused. I'm waiting for God to press the play button.

This morning my mom emailed me an article and I wanted to share a part that really stuck out to me.

"Do you get it? The point of being Christian is not to be super-spritual. It's to be re-humanized. Returned to our God-given, human task of loving Him and loving others."

^^I forget this a lot.

Saturday night, my friends and I had a bonfire. We're all done our outside classes, so getting together that night was kind of a victory statement of "Holla! We're done! We've arrived! We're still friends after all these years of dying at the hands of school!" lots of singing, laughing and dancing around while eating pizza.

Favorite outfit of the day. I'm excited to move to New York.

Song of the Week.

Thanks for reading my random thoughts.

Have a fantastic Monday....now. back to school.

Hello Spring Fashion. I love you.

I'm in love with spring.

Seriously. I mean the fashion this season is fantastic. I absolutely adore the lace and open back dresses and shirts and the hair piled on top of your head. Something I've been coming to grips with is that your style is YOU and no one can tell you that you need to change. My style is very different from my group of friends and I used to think that I needed to dress the exact same way they do in order to be better friends with them. But than I realized that it's ok that I dress differently. It's me. And if they can't be friends with me because I don't dress like them, then they don't need to be my friends (although, they are totally not like that :) But I think it's true. BE YOU. You're beautiful, because God made you like that. {all photos found on pinterest. follow my boards for more fashion like this!}

coco kinda day

I know, there's nothing special about a Wednesday but that doesn't mean you can't look nice!! I'm also not going anywhere to day. I think that one should still look you're best even if you don't have plans. You get more done when you feel pulled together. At least that's what I think.

Like Coco Chanel said "A girl should be two things: Classy and Fabulous".